Posts about Multifamily

Invest in Your Roof

One of the most important activities property managers and maintenance superintendents can perform to protect commercial and large residential facilities is a regular and thorough inspection of their facilities’ roofing systems. Regular, scheduled inspections and routine maintenance can be the difference between a roof that meets or exceeds its rated service life and one that fails prematurely. It will also keep you within your warranty. But the benefits of roof inspections don’t end there. Inspection programs can also reduce the need for emergency repairs, limit damage to the building’s structure and interior, and reduce the risk of an unhealthy living environment for occupants. In most cases, workers should inspect roofs twice each year: once in the fall and once in the spring. The fall inspection helps identify defects that might have developed during the summer, when roofing components undergo high thermal stresses and exposure to prolonged ultraviolet (UV) light. Similarly, the spring inspection identifies defects caused by ice and snow accumulation or shrinkage caused by low temperatures. Staff should perform additional inspections following heavy storms or high winds. The details of the roof inspection program vary with the type of roof and its exposure. Roofs with high levels of foot traffic or concentrations of mechanical equipment require inspectors to look more closely for physical damage to the membrane. Built-up roofs have different inspection requirements than single-ply, metal or vegetative roofs. Despite the differences, these common trouble spots can develop in practically any type of roof: A clogged or restricted drainage system. Debris, such as leaves and construction materials, can build up in or around roof drains. Restricting the flow of water from the roof can cause ponding or allow water to back up under the roof’s protective membrane. Your staff should regularly clear all roof drains and keep the roof free of debris that could eventually make its way into drains. Ponding water on the roof. Prolonged exposure to water can accelerate the breakdown of some roofing materials. The weight of the water standing on the roof can also compress the roof’s insulation, increasing the depth and width of the ponding and causing even more standing water. Exhaust system damage. Inspections also should include a check of building exhaust systems, which often vent through a building’s roof and directly onto the roof surface. Depending on the interior operation the exhaust system serves, these fumes can cause significant damage to the roof membrane. Built-up roofs consist of several layers of reinforcing materials embedded in waterproofing materials. A coating of gravel, granules, or a reflective coating protects the top surface from UV light. Common problems with these systems include: Alligatoring . A series of small cracks can develop in the roof’s surface as the result of shrinkage of the asphalt material. As the problem develops, it looks like dried mud or alligator skin. Left uncorrected, the cracks will grow into splits in the membrane. Blisters . These soft bubbles form in the roof’s membrane due to moisture trapped underneath. They can be as small as a dime or up to several feet across. Bubbles are most noticeable on hot days and can be easily broken by foot traffic. Ridges . These result from two main causes—thermal expansion of the roofing material and separation of the underlying insulation from the roof deck. The stress in the ridge eventually becomes sufficient to tear the roofing materials. It is important to keep a log book or computer file of photographs and notes taken with each inspection. You should also have the repairs done by a roofing contractor certified by the membrane’s manufacturer – and then photograph the finished repair. If you are not comfortable making the inspections, WPM recommends having an independent inspector from a roofing contractor. These recommendations will help maintain your roof’s warranty and prolong its life, saving you lots of money in the long-run. Remember, an investment in your roof is money well spent.

Online Reputation Management

How do you manage your community’s online reputation? The answer may surprise you. Brent Gratton, Director of Multimedia Marketing & Communications “When property management professionals ask me how they can improve their online reviews and feedback, one of the first things I point them to is the resident experience,” says Brent Gratton, WPM Director of Multimedia Marketing and Communications. “To ensure positive reviews on key websites such as ApartmentRatings.com, ensuring that the customer experience is positive is paramount.” Still, no matter how excellent the property management, there will always be the stray complaint or disgruntled resident. And thanks to social media and property rating websites, one resident’s displeasure can spread faster than mold in a flooded basement. That’s why WPM offers the following guidance to property managers about how to use both proactive and reactive strategies for managing customer feedback. Obviously, a proactive approach is the goal. Good managers anticipate residents’ needs before residents have the chance to blast their complaints online. Being proactive requires three things: Great service : By focusing on a great resident experience, managers can greatly influence their organization’s online image. Asking for feedback : While most residents are willing to provide feedback, very few are often asked. Creating a system for collecting residents’ responses is imperative. Quick responses to customer concerns : The more time that elapses between a complaint and its correction, the more likely a resident is to take air their frustration on social media networks. An open line of communication : Residents need to know whom they can contact with questions or problems. If they are unsure, they may seek advice online or default to complaining instead of addressing the issue through the proper channels. But when your first line of defense fails, you’ll need a workable set of reactive strategies. Remember, even if a resident’s poor experience goes viral, you can still salvage your image: First, respond to the reviews : Sometimes, people just want to be heard. When you respond to their negative review with a thoughtful, respectful explanation of what your company is doing to address the problem, you win the trust of the resident and points with the cyber audience. Then, make sure you do something about the problem. It’s not enough to make the public promise that you will fix the problem; you actually have to fix the problem. And quickly! As time passes, a disgruntled resident’s frustration is likely to spill over onto more websites. Finally, when working with unhappy residents, Gratton encourages property managers to remember Bill Gates’ advice: “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Listen carefully to residents’ complaints – online or otherwise – and always try to see things from their point of view. Your online reputation is bound to improve… because your property will improve!

Targeting and Re-Targeting, A Savvy Approach to Internet Marketing

Did you catch the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy ? If you did, you may have noticed something about the commercials that interrupt the drama: they advertise products most often purchased by women, such as face wash, makeup and laundry detergent. That’s because the marketers know that the audience for Grey’s is predominately female, and the individuals most likely to purchase their products are women. So by placing an ad during Grey’s, they’re reaching their target market. They’re “targeting.” In the internet world, the advent of behavior tracking tools such as Google Analytics is helping apartment marketers get savvier every day with targeting specific demographics like income, interests, geographic focus and more. By narrowing the scope of our marketing efforts, we are more effective at getting our message in front of the people who are most likely to be interested in our product. Targeting is an effective marketing tool because it gets your property noticed. For properties that are not currently ranked at the top of search engine results, targeting allows that property to buy premium search engine placement faster than can be accomplished with organic SEO. Even still, targeting casts a rather wide net. And now there is “re-targeting”. A person visits the State of Maryland Tourism website and then goes to ESPN to check scores and on to Facebook to read their newsfeed. Presto! Ads for Visit Maryland! appear on both of those sites imprinting the message and product. Re-targeting is a cookie-based technology that anonymously follows the target buyer all over the web. It allows us to focus the ad spend on people who have previously visited your website thereby demonstrating an interest. When they visit other websites, your property ad appears on those other sites. While targeting is effective, re-targeting is relentless. It works for lease-up and stabilized properties facing heavy renewals or a vacancy issues alike. And by using third party or Google analytics, we can track the performance of our re-targeting ads. We know which ads drive traffic to our website, how many pages each unique visitor viewed while on our website and for how long. And with lead tracking software, we can even draw a line from initial visit to final sale. So now you can answer, “How did it know?!” -Brent Gratton Director of Multifamily Marketing & Communication

Disasters will Happen. Are you Prepared?

There are two kinds of disasters: the kind that are inevitable and the kind that might happen. With natural hazards, like lightening, high winds, and flooding, the question is not “if,” but “when” they will happen. But fires, earthquakes, civil unrest and many other catastrophes may or may not happen… to you . Unfortunately, when it comes to disasters, there is no “never” category, so it’s always a good idea to prepare for the worst. Proactive property managers create emergency response and emergency restoration plans. But creating the plan is only half of the job. “If you have a plan, and it’s not updated and practiced regularly, that could be just as bad as having no plan at all,” explains WPM President of Commercial Management and Construction Services, Mike Klein. “Managers may develop a false sense of security, thinking that they have a book of instructions ready to go in the event of an emergency. But what if the emergency personnel phone numbers have changed? …or a recommended vendor is no longer in service? …or the person with the key to the water shut-off room isn’t accessible? Do you have a ‘Plan B’?” Clearly it is the job of the manager to ensure that the emergency preparedness plan is thoroughly updated and meticulously well-rehearsed. WPM property managers have years of experience tackling the tasks of preventing and recovering from disasters. As a result, they have amassed extensive experience with emergencies across many building types and geographic locations. Below is a list of some of their most important ‘do’s and don’ts’ for disaster response planning and remediation. Prepare for the worst. Managers often prepare for routine smaller emergencies, such as flooding or electrical outages, but they balk at devoting time to preparing for something catastrophic. Regardless of how unlikely a major event may seem, it is imperative to prepare for the worst. Your team is your most valuable resource for citing potential problems and developing appropriate solutions. Walk your team through your buildings, inviting their recommendations and adjusting the plan based on their feedback. Plan for the Unique Challenges of Your Location . Consider the unique challenges your property could encounter, particularly regarding its water and power supply. Do you have a generator powerful enough to run your essential equipment for an extended amount of time? Have you considered risks to your water supply and developed a solution for each contingency? Verify the Supplies. Ensuring that the supplies necessary for an emergency response are in place and in adequate condition is a task that requires ongoing attention. Materials can “walk away”, either through theft or as they become cherry-picked for other projects at the property. That is why managers ought to conduct periodic assessments of emergency response supplies. Verify the Personnel. Managers often poll their employees to see who can stay in the event of an emergency. But be wary of putting your faith in the results of this poll; it is one thing for someone to say they will stay or show up when the sky is blue, but quite another for them to stay when a storm is raging or when they receive a phone call in the middle of the night. Things happen. People have families and homes to look after in emergencies. Managers will need to plan for training those who will be staying, and provide adequate food, supplies, first aid and equipment for the duration of the emergency. In addition, managers also ought to authorize the appropriate remaining employees to make purchase decisions or create plans of action to speed up the remediation process. Verify the Vendors. In addition to knowing who among the internal staff can be counted on during a disaster, managers should know which external service providers are contractually bound to show up to the facility and render service in a timely fashion and at a fair price. Klein explains the importance of establishing vendors before an emergency: “When a major weather event such as a hurricane or ice storm hits, all of the vendors are really busy. So going to the phonebook in the midst of the crisis will not be effective. WPM has developed relationships with a broad array of service vendors who can be counted on to show up for our properties first, in the event of a disaster.” Is your team prepared for a disaster? Remember, it is not a question of “if”, but “when!” Contact WPM at [email protected] with your questions or comments. We’re happy to share our years of experience.

Lease-Up Lessons

Community openings can be a time of excitement and great reward, the culmination of years of planning and construction. As new units are claimed and the property reaches stabilized occupancy, developers, investors and management alike share a sense of well-earned accomplishment. But, getting there isn’t always easy. As you prepare for lease-up of your new communities, consider these common hurdles: Market assumptions are assumptions! The market will talk to us from day one if we will listen. Demographic and market studies, data on employers, and other sources, are used to define the target market. In turn, construction-phase and pre-leasing marketing and outreach plans are built on this data. Real-time assessment of inquiries and conversions is how we test these theories. For example, one property, intended to attract young, single, urban professionals, garnered significant interest among young families early in the leasing period. By reassessing market assumptions and adjusting communications during the leasing process, the community was able to more clearly articulate how it addressed the needs of families ultimately taking advantage of a broader market for faster lease-up. It’s about the Residents, not the amenities! Too often, properties focus their messaging on the amenities they offer, rather than focusing on the Resident experience. Prospective Residents want to know what it will feel like living in their new community, not what they can do. Can they visualize themselves enjoying the experience that the property promises? Our job is to ensure that the depiction of the experience is authentic – so Residents remain happy with the choice of their new apartment home. The “I can’t sign until I see it” objection. We want to begin executing leases as early in the development process as practical. We want to catch those Prospects who are renewing their lease or planning their move. How do you sell air! Negotiate a phased demonstration plan with all stakeholders that includes hard deliverable dates. Start with detailed renderings, finish boards, and sample materials to touch and feel in the earliest stages, then move to hard-hat tours that show unit layouts in the actual building, and finally offer a professionally-furnished model, where prospective Residents can “see” themselves living. If it’s at all feasible, a sample unit accessible from the ground floor exterior or close to an entrance that is furnished as a mini-model is exponentially more effective than sample boards or hard hat tours! Units are being delivered when? Despite the best planning possible, there will unexpected occurrences that change the construction delivery schedule – delays leading to later than expected delivery or coming online earlier than planned. Have a contingency strategy for both. Changes will happen; how flexible and prepared you are to handle them will be critical to a successful lease-up. The challenges of lease-up communities, whether ground-up new construction or repurposed, is what makes these assignments stimulating and fun. Our best advice is to have a trusted team onsite, and an executive management team capable of quickly and effectively dealing with issues as they arise, bringing thoughtful and creative solutions. -Brent Gratton, CPM® Candidate Multifamily Real Estate Director of Multimedia Marketing & Communication

The Repair vs. Replace Decision

On the surface, deciding whether to repair or replace equipment or an appliance may seem straightforward, but with closer examination, it becomes apparent this is yet another arena where a property manager exercises art along with science. And these decisions have significant impact on customer retention and cash flow. Ultimately the choice will vary by property and ownership circumstances, but below are some criteria WPM Property Managers use to evaluate these decisions: 50% of Replacement. If a repair exceeds 50% of replacement cost, there needs to be a compelling reason not to replace versus repair. Remaining Useful Life. We have to do the math. If a repair is made, how long will the item likely last? If the item is replaced, how long will it likely last? For example, if a 10-year old appliance costs $125 to repair, but only is expected to last an additional two (2) years, the cost-per-additional-year to repair it ($62.50/year) is more than the yearly cost associated with purchasing a new $400 appliance with an expected 10-year life ($40/year). Efficiency Bonus: Payback & ROI. Is there a payback benefit more than reduced repair cost, like utility savings, that justifies replacement over repair? For example, if you install new efficient hallway lighting for $400 and you project this will result in reduced electric expense of $110 per year, the simple payback period is 3.6 years and simple ROI is 27.5%. Almost all equipment will break, eventually, and all appliances need to be repaired or replaced. Planning and budgeting for a preventative maintenance change-out can help mitigate potential problems, improve the living experience for residents, and ensure the property maintains its competitive market advantage. -John Puller, CPM® Regional Property Manager

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